The
Ersatz Elevator
A Series Of Unfortunate Events 6
Lemony Snicket
HarperCollins 2001
259p hc $17.95
0-06-440864-7
It
turns out that Count Olaf is actually hiding in an extremely ersatz
elevator
shaft (ersatz means something serving as a substitute) inside 667 Dark
Avenue. Dark Avenue is actually the Beaudelaire orphans new 76 room
penthouse that they share with their new guardians, Jerome and Esme
Squalor.
Initially
Jerome does not believe the orphans when they tell him that Gunther
is really Count Olaf, even with his
phony bad accent. Olafs' latest disguise is
as an auctioneer, named Gunther, for
the In auction which a real
big event
and all the money made goes to Esme.
When
the orphans do find the elevator and climb down with their makeshift
rope made of neckties, extension cords and some curtain pulleys, guess who
they find at the bottom of the shaft? The two Quagmire triplets!
The Quagmires also have a lot in common with the Beaudelaires.
Both families were almost filthy rich; both had their parents die in a fire.
But when they get down there, the
Quagmires are locked in a cage with a lock
even Violet Beaudelaire
can’t pick.
But
Violet has an idea.
tongs and bake them at
500 degrees Celsius, until they glowed white,
to use as welders. They then went
back down, only to find the Quagmire’s
had gone…
The tale continues with many twists with the Beaudelaire orphans trying to fight the evil plans of Olaf, braving cold porridge and trying to solve the mystery of V.F.D.
I
enjoyed this story immensely, and will give it seven out of ten.
I think that
the story can be read by most ages from eight upwards.
Connor, Year 6, Canberra, ACT
The
Vile Village
A Series Of Unfortunate Events 7
Lemony
Snicket
HarperCollins
2001
256p
hbk $17.95
Crows,
secret clues, meals of bread and water in their deluxe cell, and a very ugly
fountain are all in the gripping continuation of the lives of the Baudelaire
children. In this episode, they spend time with the people from the village of
V.F.D. Poe (the family Banker) asked the children to choose a village from a
list he gave them.. The name of V.F.D, being the same as the secret that the
Quagmires told them, was on that list. It was their choice. The children did not
know that V.F.D stands for Village of Fowl Devotees. In their continuing
flight from Count Olaf., the children are grudgingly housed with the local
handyman Hector, possibly the only friend they have in V.F.D. They try to find
the Quagmires, but are plagued with misfortune and wretched misery in their
search. They succeed, but not before they are cast under suspicion of foul play
themselves.
You
must read this exciting instalment of A Series Of Unfortunate Events. I
enjoyed this story very much.
Connor, Year 6, Canberra, ACT
A
Series Of Unfortunate Events 8: The Hostile Hospital
Lemony
Snickett
HarperCollins
2001
255p
hc
Our
story starts with the Baudelaire orphans walking across the barren plains in
front of the Last Chance General Store. When they walk in, they are met by a
friendly shopkeeper, Al, and they ask if they can send a telegram on the morse-code
telegrapher. But when the paper deliverer comes, and he realizes they are
actually the three wrongly accused children the Daily Punctilio, they think the kids are really murderers. So they
run out of the shop sharpish, and hitch a ride with the Members of V.F.D.,
(Volunteers Fighting Disease) who believed in the saying that No News is Good
News. Violet then inquired about Jacques Snicket, asking if there had ever been
anyone like him, but the answer was no. They were told they needed a library of
records.
At
this point, the story turns to Heimlich Hospital; a half-finished building. Even
the sign was half beautiful, fancy gold lettering on a white sign while the
other half of the sign was cardboard cellotaped on with Hospital written on it in ballpoint pen.
Almost
immediately after the children reached the ground, the Head of Human Resources,
Babs, made an announcement saying she wanted volunteers to work in the Library
of Records, so the Baudelaires went to see Babs about the job.
When
the children got to the Library of Records, they met Hal, their new supervisor.
A few minutes after they got their jobs, (Violet and Klaus filing and baby Sunny
helping Hal find his lost keys) Hal remembered he had seen their names before in
the file on the Snicket fires. So that night when the Baudelaires had gone to
the un-finished half of the hospital (Sunny had suggested they sleep there) they
remembered that Hal's eyesight wasn’t what it used to be. They had this thesis
that maybe they could switch Hal's Key-chain with Violet's hair ribbon and lots
of chewed up paperclips.
The
next day in the antechamber they put their plan into action. They switched the
key-chain with the decoy and when Hal was gone, they snuck into the Library. But
who should find them but Esme Squalor…
I
give this book 6 out of 10 because it’s a clever book, and some bits are a bit
witty. For fans of the series.
Connor,
Year 7, Canberra, ACT
